Zydus Cadila receives WHO prequalification accreditation for Rabies vaccine

14 October 2008

Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd has received WHO prequalification accreditation for its Rabies vaccine, Lyssavac.

With this, Zydus Cadila becomes the first Indian pharma company and the second pharma company in the world to receive the WHO prequalification accreditation for rabies vaccine.

''WHO has approved Lyssavac N, purified duck embryo rabies vaccine (PDEV), manufactured by Zydus Cadila, for purchase by various United Nations Agencies,'' the company said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Zydus Cadila,the flagship firm of the Zydus Group, had entered into an agreement with WHO in August this year to explore a possible collaboration for the development of a cocktail for the treatment of rabies, through the use of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), the next-generation biologicals.

The broad-based agreement signed with WHO included evaluation and a possible stepping-stone for the development and commercialisation of the cocktail, to be used as an adjuvant therapy. The World Health Organization would provide monoclonal antibodies capable of neutralising the rabies virus and its genetic sequences for evaluation at the Zydus Research Centre, the Ahmedabad-based company's research arm.

Zydus Cadila, one of the largest manufacturers of rabies vaccine in India, produces 3 million doses of the vaccine per annum. The vaccine facility, set up in technical collaboration with Bema Biotech of Switzerland, is located at Moraiya near Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

The purified duck embryo rabies vaccine is said to be very well tolerated with the best sero conversion for protection against rabies. In India, the vaccine is marketed under the brand name 'Vaxirab' and Lyssavac N. The vaccine is currently exported to countries in South East Asia and Africa.